Google patents an anti-spoiler tool for TV series, films and books

Did it ever happen to you, while searching the web, to have the plot or ending of a book you’re reading (or TV series) revealed? To me it happened two weeks ago before finishing the book Allegiant and had the protagonist’s faith revealed. I was expecting it anyway since the beginning of it, but it’s one of the most annoying things that can happen every now and then, especially on YouTube comments which are mined of spoilers.

Google knows that feeling perfectly, as it seems that it had patented an anti-spoiler tool that will automatically hide unwanted revelations on Facebook and Twitter, until we want to. The filter’s prototype, as it’s still under development right now, is supposed to gather information on how many pages you’ve read of a book, episodes watched of a TV series and movies that have been seen and automatically cut potential posts or tweets that may contain a spoiler. We’d still be able to read them entirely by clicking a spoiler-tag button if you are overwhelmed by temptation, but don’t say you haven’t been warned this time if things do not go the way you wanted to!

It sounds exciting and surely something to look forward to for many of us. However, just don’t get too excited just for now. A Google spokeswoman said to CNN: “We hold patents on a variety of ideas – some of those ideas later mature into real products or services, some don’t. Prospective product announcements should not necessarily be inferred from our patents”.